Cross-coupled contact structure on IC products and methods of making such contact structures

1. An integrated circuit product, comprising: a first merged doped source/drain region comprising an upper surface, a first side surface and a second side surface, said first and second side surfaces intersecting one another at a corner of said first merged doped source/drain region; a second merged doped source/drain region; an isolation structure positioned between said first merged doped source/drain region and said second merged doped source/drain region; a contact trench in said isolation structure; a conductive gate structure for at least one transistor device, said conductive gate structure being positioned above at least said second merged doped source/drain region; and a cross-coupled contact structure that comprises a first portion and a second portion, wherein at least a portion of said first portion of said cross-coupled contact structure is positioned within said contact trench laterally adjacent to and conductively coupled to at least one of said first side surface and said second side surface, and wherein said second portion of said cross-coupled contact structure is positioned above and conductively coupled to said upper surface of said first merged doped source/drain region and wherein said cross-coupled contact structure is conductively coupled to said conductive gate structure.

2. The integrated circuit product of claim 1 , wherein said first side surface and said second side surface extend downwardly from said upper surface.

3. The integrated circuit product of claim 1 , wherein said contact trench is a continuous trench that extends along at least a portion of said first side surface, around said corner of said first merged doped source/drain region and along at least a portion of said second side surface, and wherein said first portion of said cross-coupled contact structure is conductively coupled to each of said first side surface, said corner and said second side surface of said first merged doped source/drain region.

4. The integrated circuit product of claim 3 , wherein said first portion of said cross-coupled contact structure is in physical contact with and conductively coupled to each of said first side surface, said corner and said second side surface and wherein said second portion of said cross-coupled contact structure is in physical contact with and conductively coupled to said upper surface of said first merged doped source/drain region.

5. The integrated circuit product of claim 1 , further comprising metal silicide material positioned between said second portion of said cross-coupled contact structure and said upper surface of said first merged doped source/drain region, wherein said second portion of said cross-coupled contact structure is in physical contact with and conductively coupled to said metal silicide material.

6. The integrated circuit product of claim 1 , further comprising: a first N-type pull-down transistor and a first P-type pull-up transistor, both of which are formed above said second merged doped source/drain region, wherein said conductive gate structure is a first shared conductive gate structure that is shared by both said first N-type pull-down transistor and said first P-type pull-up transistor; and a second N-type pull-down transistor and a second P-type pull-up transistor formed above said first merged doped source/drain region, each of said second N-type pull-down transistor and said second P-type pull-up transistor comprising a drain region, wherein said cross-coupled contact structure conductively couples said first shared conductive gate structure to said drain region of both said second N-type pull-down transistor and said second P-type pull-up transistor.

7. The integrated circuit product of claim 6 , wherein said cross-coupled contact structure is a first cross-coupled contact structure, further comprising: a first N-type pass gate transistor formed above said second merged doped source/drain region; a second N-type pass gate transistor formed above said first merged doped source/drain region; a second shared conductive gate structure that is shared by both said second N-type pull-down transistor and said second P-type pull-up transistor; and a second cross-coupled contact structure that conductively couples said second shared conductive gate structure to a drain region of each of said first N-type pull-down transistor and said first P-type pull-up transistor thereby forming an SRAM cell.

8. The integrated circuit product of claim 1 , further comprising a metal silicide material positioned between said first portion of said cross-coupled contact structure and at least one of said first and second side surfaces, wherein said first portion of said cross-coupled contact structure is in physical contact with and conductively coupled to said metal silicide material.

9. The integrated circuit product of claim 1 , wherein said first portion of said cross-coupled contact structure is positioned laterally adjacent to only one of said first and second side surfaces.

10. The integrated circuit product of claim 1 , wherein each of said first and second merged doped source/drain regions comprises a first doped region of a first type and a second doped region of a second type that is opposite said first type, said first doped region and said second doped region engaging one another along an interface.

11. The integrated circuit product of claim 1 , wherein said first merged doped source/drain region comprises a first P-doped region and a second N-doped region that engage one another along an interface within said first merged doped source/drain region, said first P-doped region comprising said first side surface, said corner, said second side surface and said upper surface, wherein said at least one transistor device is a vertical transistor device and wherein said conductive gate structure is further positioned above only a portion of said first merged doped source/drain region.

12. The integrated circuit product of claim 1 , wherein said conductive gate structure and said cross-coupled contact structure are formed form at least one continuous layer of at least one conductive material.

13. An integrated circuit product, comprising: a first merged doped source/drain region comprising an upper surface, a first side surface and a second side surface, said first and second side surfaces intersecting one another at a corner of said first merged doped source/drain region, wherein said first side surface and said second side surface extend downwardly from said upper surface; a second merged doped source/drain region; an isolation structure positioned between said first merged doped source/drain region and said second merged doped source/drain region; a continuous contact trench formed in said isolation structure, said continuous contact trench extending along at least a portion of said first side surface, around said corner and along at least a portion of said second side surface; a conductive gate structure for at least one transistor device, said conductive gate structure being positioned above at least said second merged doped source/drain region; and a cross-coupled contact structure that comprises a first portion and a second portion, wherein at least a portion of said first portion of said cross-coupled contact structure is positioned within said continuous contact trench laterally adjacent to and conductively coupled to each of said first side surface, said corner, and said second side surface, and wherein said second portion of said cross-coupled contact structure is positioned above and conductively coupled to said upper surface of said first merged doped source/drain region and wherein said cross-coupled contact structure is conductively coupled to said conductive gate structure.

14. The integrated circuit product of claim 13 , wherein said first portion of said cross-coupled contact structure is in physical contact with said first side surface, said corner and said second side surface of said first merged doped source/drain region.

15. The integrated circuit product of claim 14 , wherein said second portion of said cross-coupled contact structure is in physical contact with said upper surface of said first merged doped source/drain region.

16. The integrated circuit product of claim 13 , further comprising metal silicide material positioned between said second portion of said cross-coupled contact structure and said upper surface of said first merged doped source/drain region, wherein said second portion of said cross-coupled contact structure is in physical contact with and conductively coupled to said metal silicide material.

17. A method, comprising: forming a first merged doped source/drain region, said first merged doped source/drain region comprising an upper surface, a first side surface and a second side surface, said first and second side surfaces intersecting one another at a corner of said first merged doped source/drain region; forming a second merged doped source/drain region; forming a contact trench in an isolation structure positioned between said first merged doped source/drain region and said second merged doped source/drain region so as to thereby expose at least a portion of at least one of said first side surface and said second side surface of said first merged doped source/drain region; forming a conductive gate structure for at least one transistor device, said conductive gate structure being positioned above at least said second merged doped source/drain region; and forming a cross-coupled contact structure having a first portion and a second portion, said first portion of said cross-coupled contact structure being formed within said contact trench laterally adjacent to and conductively coupled to said at least one of said first side surface and said second side surface, said second portion of said cross-coupled contact structure being formed vertically above and conductively coupled to said upper surface, wherein said cross-coupled contact structure is conductively coupled to said conductive gate structure.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein forming said contact trench comprises forming a continuous contact trench that extends along at least a portion of said first side surface, around said corner of said first merged doped source/drain region and along at least a portion of said second side surface, and wherein said first portion of said cross-coupled contact structure is formed such that it is conductively coupled to each of said first side surface, said corner and said second side surface of said first merged doped source/drain region.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein forming said first and second merged doped source/drain regions comprises forming said first and second merged doped source/drain regions such that each of said first and second merged doped source/drain regions comprise a first doped region of a first type and a second doped region of a second type that is opposite said first type, said first doped region and said second doped region engaging one another along an interface.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein forming said conductive gate structure and said cross-coupled contact structure comprises forming at least one continuous layer of conductive material so as to form at least a portion of the said conductive gate structure and said cross-coupled contact structure from the same at least one continuous layer of conductive material.